ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A national survey found 301,874 "zombie" properties dotting the U.S. landscape in which homeowners in foreclosure have moved out, leaving vacant property susceptible to vandalism and degradation. Florida tops the list of zombie properties with 90,556 vacant homes in foreclosure, according to a foreclosure inventory released on Thursday by RealtyTrac, a real estate information company in Irvine, California. Illinois and California ranked a distant second and third with 31,668 and 28,821 zombie properties respectively on the list. The number of homes overall in foreclosure or bank-owned rose by 9 percent to 1.5 million properties nationally in...

PERRIS: Fannie Mae abandoned horse, records show A horse that was found blind, starving and nearly crippled at a foreclosed home in Perris may have been a victim of Fannie Mae. I reported on the horse’s rescue last week by a couple of local good Samaritans, but I didn’t know who owned the property. I do now. It was Fannie Mae. That’s what the County Assessor’s records show, anyway. I had a feeling this was the case, based on an unreliable tip that was blurted at me by the real estate agent in charge of the property. When I called...

Years after the banking system nearly collapsed from reckless mortgage lending, federal prosecutors have stayed on the sidelines, even as judges point out apparent wrongdoing. The federal government has pursued few criminal cases against major lenders or senior executives for the meltdown. Finding hard evidence is difficult, the Justice Department said. The government hasn't prosecuted dubious foreclosure practices deployed since 2007 by big banks and other mortgage-servicing companies. Meanwhile, foreclosure-related case files in just one New York federal bankruptcy court hold at least 12 promissory notes bearing evidence of recently forged signatures and illegal alterations, according to a judge's rulings....

Now that their general strike is over, Occupy Oakland activists are looking for a new initiative to keep the momentum rolling - and their gaze is turning toward taking over foreclosed or abandoned buildings. The subject came up in earnest in group meetings over the past couple of days, and conversations have narrowed down not to whether Occupy activists should take over empty buildings, but when and how. "It's a very important front for the Occupy movement all over this country, and if any one city can set a precedent for taking over foreclosed buildings, the idea will then quickly...

WILMETTE | Home on auction block carries hefty back-tax burden A property tax bill of more than $200,000. That's the added cost that awaits whoever comes out on top in next month's auction of the foreclosed Wilmette mansion of convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko. Records show Rezko stopped paying real estate taxes on the 8,400-square-foot mansion more than four years ago. He owes a total of $140,409.86 in back property taxes, plus $69,402.24 in interest. The new owner will have to pay that, says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Rezko stopped paying the taxes around the same time he stopped paying...

The number of California hotels in default or foreclosed on jumped 125% in the last 60 days. The state now has 31 hotels that have been foreclosed on and 175 in default... With 19.6% of the total, San Bernardino County leads the state in foreclosed hotels. Riverside County follows with 16.1% and San Diego County has 12.9%. Los Angeles County, with 12% of the total, has the most hotels in default. San Bernardino County is next with 9.7% and San Diego County follows with 8.0%. Non-franchised hotels account for a disproportionate number of foreclosures. They make up about 87% of...

With Obama now becoming the CEO of General Motors because they received bailout money from the Government, what will that mean for homeowners facing foreclosure who are bailed out? Will Michele Obama tell you what color to paint your walls? Will you be able to cut down a tree in your back yard without permission? Will you be able to pick out what type of flooring you want if it's not "green" enough? Where does this madness end?

Kids Party in Foreclosed Homes, Leave Wake of VandalismParty-Throwing Minors, Criminals Make Themselves at Home in Vacant Houses By RUSSELL GOLDMAN March 4, 2009 By the time the cops arrived, the house was in total shambles. Windows were smashed, beer cans were strewn across the lawn, light fixtures were pulled out of the ceiling, the drywall was kicked out exposing the studs in the walls, and on nearly every available surface, spray paint indicated what that section of the house was to be used for, from the "liquor wall" to the "sex room." The Ft. Myers, Fla., party ended late...

President Obama on Saturday struck back aggressively at critics of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal, casting himself as a populist crusader whose "sweeping change" has angered Washington's entrenched special interests, and promised to fight them. "I realize that passing this budget won't be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington," Mr. Obama said in his weekly video and radio address. Mr. Obama's language was combative and confrontational, as he promised to fight for "American families." "I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists...

President Barack Obama's first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $646 billion from a carbon reduction proposal. "Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that's controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Mr. Obama said Thursday morning. "That's why we'll be working with Congress on legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy." The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program — which would allow companies to...

President Obama will pledge Tuesday night that the nation "will rebuild, we will recover," as he delivers an address to a joint session of Congress and with a nervous nation watching at home. "While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," Mr. Obama will say, according to excerpts of his remarks. In lofty language, Mr. Obama is expected to promise a new path forward...

From television specials to newspaper editorials, the media are pushing the idea that current economic problems were caused by the market and that only the government can rescue us. What was lacking in the housing market, they say, was government regulation of the market's "greed." That makes great moral melodrama, but it turns the facts upside down. It was precisely government intervention that turned a thriving industry into a basket case. An economist specializing in financial markets gave a glimpse of the history of housing markets when he said: "Lending money to American homebuyers had been one of the least...

Some owners of foreclosed homes are stealing appliances and leaving the houses damaged and in disarray, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. Realtors complain the trashed houses are harder to sell. Homeowners upset at banks that are forcing them out have been hauling items from their houses and selling them, the station said. They're also damaging walls and floors.

Foreclosed Homes Occupied by HomelessBy THOMAS J. SHEERAN – 1 day ago A sign hangs above a row of beds at a shelter, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008, in Cleveland. The nation's foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses, and some street people are taking advantage of the opportunity. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) CLEVELAND (AP) — The nation's foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses, and some street people are taking advantage...